Waste to Wealth: CaP Systems

Long description

45,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated every year in Kerala. This waste is released into the ocean – threatening marine ecology and human health. Commencing in Vizhinjam, Kerala (within the world’s top ten Marine Biodiversity Hotspots) this project aims to establish a sustainable waste management system, with a primary focus on developing economies of scale and waste infrastructure for marginalised coastal communities.   Our innovative Compositing and Aquaponics (CaP) systems turn organic and plastic waste to usable compost, fish and vegetables. With our existing Waste Collection Service employing marginalised women from the community to collect household/business waste every week, we:

• Shred and extrude the washed, segregated plastics and store them in our Centre for use in the CaP systems;
• Turn organic waste into compost using Soldier Fly Larvae (SFL);
• Feed larvae to fish stock in aquaponic systems once they have broken down the organic waste;
• Utilise fish fecal matter to feed vegetable seedlings that grow above the ponds;
• Sell system-produced compost to local farmers.

These innovative designs create an entirely unique and decentralised closed-loop waste management system.   We have developed and tested the machines required to recycle the plastic waste into the CaP kits. Building on this, the project aims to set-up CaP systems and industrial extrusion machines at the community level. Scaling up to other communities is the next step and, in the long-term, will significantly reduce plastic waste, burning of waste and the combined effects on people, climate and the ocean.

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